Friends and family on board

Paddling at the beach with Melanie

Melanie and Derek next to the statue commemorating the victims of terrorism

March turned out to be visitors’ month. First we had our friends Melanie and Derek, who almost didn’t make it due to the bad weather in the UK.  They missed their original flight after being snowed in on the A23, but managed to get away a couple of days later. They only stayed with us for two days and it rained steadily for one of them,  but we were able to fit in a visit to the underwater archaeological museum, (which was brilliant, even with a hangover), then  a seafood lunch at the beach the next day, followed by a quick paddle in the sea.



Gina out on the headland

Gina arrived next and stayed for a week. Gina is a keen archaeologist and was interested in finding out more about Cartagena’s history. We left Cliff working on the boat while we visited the main archaeological museum (a bit of a disappointment), then the Roman Theatre and the Roman baths, which I had seen before, but enjoyed even more a second time round. We also took the bikes for a ride around the bay and stopped at the beach for a paddle, quickly confirming it was still too cold to swim!



Nigel walking at Puerto de Portman

 My brother Nigel and his wife Anne were the last to visit, staying in a hotel in town. It was great to see them, Anne was in good spirits and very brave in ‘walking in the plank’ on and off the boat, as everything is a bit more of an effort now that she suffers from Parkinson’s. It was also good spend some time with my big brother, as I rarely get the chance to chat with him nowadays. 


 

Float in the Holy Week procession

Nigel and Anne timed their visit to coincide with the Holy Week celebrations here. They are organised by four local religious brotherhoods (who tend to compete with each other to produce the best floats) and take place each day for ten days leading up to Easter Sunday, really taking over the life of the town. We watched four different processions, each slightly different, but all very impressive.

Men, women and children of all ages take part in the processions, dressing in traditional costumes  that date back to the 17th century and pushing or carrying ornate floats that tell the story of Christ’s Passion. The floats carry religious sculptures and are decorated with literally thousands of flowers. It was lovely to see  the children taking it all so seriously, marching in time to the drums, or handing out sweets to the crowds. We were also fascinated by the costumes, especially the strange pointed hoods of the penitents which reminded us of the Klu Klux Klan.

Roman soldiers of all ages!

The Penitents

 

A special thank you to all of our visitors for making the effort to come and see us, and for bringing out much needed supplies, ranging from a spare sensor for the gas detector to packets of Assam tea!